Category: News

Starting from the 19th of February is O-Week at the University of New South Wales. For all those people attending UNSW, there will be DWCA merchandise available for sale. This will be from the DocSoc stall in the quad on the Kensington campus.

DocSoc – UNSW’s Doctor Who Society, is a meeting place for all fans of Doctor Who at UNSW!

Merchandise will include sonic screwdrivers, diaries, graphic novels and Pop! Vinyls! In addition a life sized Dalek will be on display near the stall for people to take photos with! There will be lots of other activities going on around the campus at the same time, including free food, jumping castles and much, much more.

Overnight, the BBC have dropped a new trailer for this year’s Christmas Special. Check it out below!

The Christmas special will be on ABC iview just after it finishes airing in the UK. This means it should be on iview around 5:30am Australian Eastern Daylight Time on Boxing Day.

It will also be at some selected cinemas! Event Cinemas George St currently has a special offer for its 12:30pm session, offering $15 tickets (down from $20) for groups of 20 people or more. If you’re interested in being part of a group for this session, please email president@doctorwhoaustralia.org

Of course, it will be on the ABC! It will be on at 7:30pm on Boxing Day night. Straight after, change over to ABC Comedy (previously ABC 2) to watch the special regeneration episode of Whovians!

As part of Children in Need in the UK, a special clip from this year’s Christmas special, Twice Upon a Time, has aired.

Check it out below.

As previously reported, this year’s Christmas special will be on the big screen at selected cinemas, ABC’s iview as soon as it has finished airing in the UK, and on the ABC itself at 7:30pm on Boxing Day night. Once it’s finished, switch over to ABC Comedy (previously ABC2) to watch the Christmas special of Whovians!

BBC Worldwide Australia and New Zealand and Sharmill Films have confirmed that this year’s Christmas Special – Twice Upon a Time – is to receive a cinema release on Boxing Day!

That’s right, the epic finale to the Peter Capaldi era of Doctor Who is coming to Australian cinemas, featuring the return of Pearl Mackie and special guests Mark Gatiss and David Bradley. The event will also introduce the Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker.

The cinema event will also feature two exclusive bonus pieces, taking audiences behind the scenes of the filming of this holiday special and celebrating the tenures of Peter Capaldi as the Doctor and Steven Moffat as showrunner and lead writer.

It has also been confirmed that the episode will be immediately available on ABC iview after the UK broadcast, and will be on ABC TV at 7:30pm on 26 December. Straight afterwards, fans can join Rove and his guests for a special regeneration episode of Whovians, at 8:30pm on ABC COMEDY (previously ABC2).

For a list of cinemas that will be airing the Christmas special, head over to Sharmill Films website here.

For a trailer to whet your appetite for the Christmas special, click below!

Jamie Childs has been confirmed as a director working on the first production block of series eleven. Childs was responsible for directing the 13th Doctor reveal of Jodie Whittaker.

At this time, it hasn’t been confirmed which episodes will be shot during this production block.

Childs has been involved in shooting commercials which won a number of awards. He has also been involved in directing Stan Lee’s Lucky Man. He has also previously worked as a second unit director for series one of Poldark.

As previously posted by the DWCA, Shada is being re-released with fresh animation. For more information on the history of Shada, please refer to the original post, here.

Now we can confirm that in addition to the home media release, Shada will also receive a limited cinema release from the 24th of November!For more information and to find your closest cinema, please visit the below link to the cinema distributor, Sharmill Films.

The BBC have confirmed that for Series Eleven, the Doctor will have three companions!

From Left to Right, Mandip Gill, Bradley Walsh, Jodie Whittaker and Tosin Cole

Mandip will play Yasmin, Tosin will play Ryan and Bradley will play Graham.

Gill and Cole have both been in the UK series Hollyoaks, and Bradley is most best known for being the host of the UK quiz show, The Chase.

The BBC have also confirmed that series eleven will contain ten episodes, which will be fifty minutes long and the first episode being an hour in length.

Chris Chibnall said: “The new Doctor is going to need new friends. We’re thrilled to welcome Mandip, Tosin and Bradley to the Doctor Who family. They’re three of Britain’s brightest talents and we can’t wait to see them dive into brand new adventures with Jodie’s Doctor.

Bradley Walsh added: “I remember watching William Hartnell as the first Doctor. Black and white made it very scary for a youngster like myself. I was petrified but even though I’d watch most of it from behind the sofa through my fingers, I became a fan. I then queued up for ages to get into the Carlton picture house in Watford to watch the great Peter Cushing appear as the Doctor in a full length feature film made in glorious colour. Am I thrilled to be part of this whole ground breaking new dawn for the Doctor?? Oh yes!”

Mandip Gill said: “I am over the moon to be joining the Doctor Who family. This is an iconic show with an amazing fanbase and I look forward to everything that brings. Certain roles seem unattainable and this is one of those, so much so I didn’t believe it to be true for the first few weeks. To be working alongside the likes of Jodie, Bradley and my old friend Tosin is thrilling. This show is worlds away from the work I’ve done previously and that’s the part that excites me the most.”

Tosin Cole said: “I’m grateful and excited to be a part of this journey with the team. I’m looking forward to jumping in this Doctor Who universe.”

The team behind the recent animation of The Power of the Daleks has been commissioned to animate Shada, the legendary “lost” Fourth Doctor story.

Shada has a long and complicated history in Doctor Who circles. Initially planned to end the seventeenth season of the programme, the scripts were completed by then-script editor Douglas Adams, now best known for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Unfortunately, due to a strike at the BBC in November 1979, the final studio recording sessions were cancelled, and the story was never completed.

BBC Worldwide released the story on VHS in 1992, with Tom Baker providing linking material to camera for the missing scenes. A full-length web version, using basic Flash animation and a new cast lead by Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, was produced to celebrate Doctor Who’s 40th anniversary in 2003.

A novelisation was published in 2012, while 2013 saw not only a remastered edition of the VHS release on DVD but also an unofficial fan version, using animation to fill in the missing scenes. Whilst a number of the original cast re-voiced their parts, the role of the Fourth Doctor was recast.

Now, thirty-eight years after it was originally filmed, BBC Worldwide is releasing a new official version of Shada. This will combine the original, remastered footage with new colour animation. The animation will feature newly recorded dialogue by the original cast, including Tom Baker as the Doctor and Lalla Ward as Romana.

Australian release dates are yet to be announced.

To whet your appetite for the new version, check out a teaser trailer below:

Martin first appeared in Doctor Who, playing a Time Lord in the Second Doctor story The War Games. However, he is probably best known as playing the Doctor in a stage play: Doctor Who and the Daleks in the Seven Keys to Doomsday.

The play, written by Terrance Dicks, was set after the regeneration of the Third Doctor, with Martin playing an alternative version of the Fourth Doctor. Tom Baker made his TV debut whilst the play was running.

In 2008, Big Finish adapted the play for audio, and Martin returned to the role.